Psalm 119
Psalm 119
Several good books have been written on this Psalm. It is usually looked at verse-by-verse, and dealt with as setting forth the word of God in the life of a believer. While that is obviously good and true, I would like to look at two (2) things regarding this Psalm:
1) When did David write it?
2) Why did David write it?
While David writes much on the word of God, his law, his commandments, his statutes, etc, again all of which is good and true of and great benefit to both we believers to strengthen us to do the same, and for those seeking after God, to follow David's pathway to life, yet if we understand when and why David wrote this Psalm, we will then enter into the personal and human aspect of the Psalm; David did not write a theological dissertation on God's word! He poured out his heart to God at a particular time in his life.
I want to show that David wrote this prior to becoming king, while Saul was seeking to kill him, and it was in that very difficult time of his life that he found comfort in God's word. This was not theory to David; he was living in a cave! Running for his life!
So, why do I say David wrote this prior to becoming king?
Consider these verses:
Psa 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Psa 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
Psa 119:46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.
Psa 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
Psa 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
Psa 119:161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
Who is the young man? It is David himself! If he was older when he wrote this, he would not have qualified it so, but as a young man, he is thinking as a young man, and so makes the statement as a young man.
In the other verses David speaks of "princes" and "his teachers" and "the ancients;" would David the king have said those things? I don't think so! Those are the statements of a young man. There was not one prince of Israel who spoke against David when he was king, but the princes of Saul's court did!
Which leads to the second point I want to make, I think David wrote this Psalm while he was living in caves, in hiding, running away from Saul.
The Psalm is filled with statements about David being persecuted! These only makes sense if understood to mean when Saul was trying to kill him.
Now some might say, What about Absalom's rebellion?
The reason I do not think this Psalm was written during that time is that when Absalom rebelled, David was an older man, fully established as king, and the statements about "young men" and "teachers" would not make sense. Nor was he persecuted, etc, it was a rebellion, not a persecution; Saul persecuted him.
Consider these verses:
Psa 119:22 Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
Psa 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
Psa 119:42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
Psa 119:46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.
Psa 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
Psa 119:51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.
Psa 119:54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
Psa 119:61 The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.
Psa 119:69 The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
Psa 119:78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.
Psa 119:84 How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
Psa 119:85 The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.
Psa 119:87 They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.
Psa 119:95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.
Psa 119:98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
Psa 119:110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.
Psa 119:115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.
Psa 119:122 Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.
Psa 119:134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.
Psa 119:139 My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
Psa 119:143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.
Psa 119:154 Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.
Psa 119:157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
Psa 119:161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
In the above verses, David talks about princes persecuting him, falsely accusing him, laying nets, digging pits, and setting snares for him without a cause. He says he was lied about, reproached, and that princes sat and spoke against him. He is speaking about a protected time of persecution. Is not that what was happening in the court of Saul, when Saul was stirred up against David, out of jealousy, because the girls of Israel had David as their hero, singing "Saul killed his thousands, David ten thousand." Saul was so stirred up in hate and anger, that he even tried to kill his own son Jonathan, because Jonathan stood up for David against his father Saul. After seeing that, do you think any of the princes of Israel would have stood up against Saul? Never, they all spoke against him!
So to conclude, I would say this Psalm was written by David when Saul was chasing him in the wilderness (David speaks of the house of his pilgrimage, ie his wilderness wandering to evade Saul). As he wrote in Psa 18:1 upon his deliverance:
"To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength."
Now a word on the subject most often addressed when dealing with this Psalm: the word of God and the promises that are contained in it. The verses are too many to list. Read the Psalm and you will see that David trusted God to do what he had said in his word; that he would protect the innocent who were being persecuted by the strong.
David only had the five (5) books of Moses, Joshua, and maybe Ruth. Remember, she was his great grandmother, and if dead, would only have died recently. But in those books he read of God's great deeds to deliver, preserve, and protect his people. He knew the story of his great grandmother, Ruth the Moabite, and he reasoned, If God did that for her, he will do it for me.
Christian, that is what it means to trust God: he did it for others, he will do it for me!
If you are seeking after God, know he is a sure helper of all who put their trust in him;
HIS REPUTATION DEPENDS ON HIM KEEPING HIS WORD!
"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Psa 23:3
God is the most loyal Being in the Universe!
7 August 2025